


Great Library Language Meta

by TheGreatLibraryFangirl (Mazeem)



Category: The Great Library Series - Rachel Caine
Genre: Essays, Gen, Meta, Multilingual Character, lots of them - Freeform, nitpicking the details
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 15:21:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20155753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mazeem/pseuds/TheGreatLibraryFangirl
Summary: A probably still-to-grow collection of the Great Library metas I have put together about this fascinating multi-lingual setting.Chapter 1: What languages do they all speak?Chapter 2: Caine's been hiding the swearwords ...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> One of the many things that I love about these books is the different languages. 
> 
> So I decided to make a list of all the languages that the main characters speak/use/reference with understanding, etc. Because as a fic writer and a language lover, these things matter to me.

**Languages all characters appear to have**:

Greek (spoken): Variety of Greek that seems to be commonly spoken - certainly throughout Alexandria.

Greek (written): Above forms of Greek and Ancient Greek, all the main characters read multiple Ancient Greek texts with apparently zero trouble. 

English (spoken): There are few specific points of proof for certain characters that I'll return to, but this is mostly from Ash and Quill where they go to America and England. Assuming British English. 

Note, I'm splitting the languages into spoken and written. 'Written' covers reading and/or writing the language, 'Spoken' covers hearing and speaking. 

There are a feeeeeeew more points where I’m interpreting rather than just plain reading, but I’ll make that clear. 

Organised by least to most “me interpreting shit”

* * *

_tldr:_

**Wolfe**: Greek, English, Russian, Chinese, Egyptian hieroglyphics, unknown "dead and obscure languages"

**Santi**: Greek, Italian, English, Russian

**Thomas:** Greek, German English

**Morgan:** Greek, English, maybe basic Spanish

**Glain:** Greek, Welsh, English (maybe Latin, see Books section)

**Khalila:** Greek, Arabic, Portuguese, English, German, Japanese, unknown "dead and obscure languages"

**Jess:** Greek, English, Brightwell spy code, sign language, maybe basic Spanish

**Dario:** Greek, Spanish, Spanish dialect sign language, English, Brightwell spy code, Spanish spy code, Italian, unknown "dead and obscure languages", maybe common Greek or other international sign language

**Annis:** Greek, English/Scots, Spanish, Assyrian 

**Alvaro Santiago:** Greek, Spanish, Spanish dialect sign language, Arabic, English, "half a dozen other tongues."

* * *

**Wolfe:**

  1. **Alexandrian Greek** **(spoken and written)**: Native tongue. Chapter One of Sword and Pen explicitly confirms this as Wolfe's mother tongue. I'll add (Library) to everyone else's Greek as a way to differentiate.
  2. **English (spoken):** Fluent. Based on their trips to Philadelphia, where English is spoken, and England. There's also a bit of Sword and Pen where Jess notes that Wolfe has switched to Greek, indicating by omission. that previously he was speaking to Jess in English. 
  3. **Russian (spoken):** Fluency unknown. Spoken in Stormcrow, a short story by Caine you can find on Wattpad.
  4. **Chinese (written):** As mentioned in the Black Archives. Unknown if he can speak it, or what he'd be speaking if he did.
  5. **Egyptian hieroglyphs (written):** In a Wattpad "missing scene", Wolfe can easily read inscribed hieroglyphs from the 19th century BC (Twelfth Dynasty)
  6. **"dead and obscure languages" (written)**: Khalila says in Ash and Quill that she, Dario and Wolfe can translate the Black Archives books which are in languages the Philadelphians probably don't speak.

* * *

**Santi:**

  1. **Italian (spoken and presumably written)**: Native tongue. Fluent. Exactly which dialect of Italian he's fluent in is entirely open to interpretation.
  2. **Alexandrian (Library) Greek**. Fluent. (+Ancient Greek, adding for him because he _was _a postulant after all)
  3. **English (spoken):** Based on their trips to Philadelphia, where English is spoken, and England.
  4. **Russian (spoken):** Fluency unknown. Basic? Speaks Russian once in Stormcrow (a short story by Caine you can find on Wattpad).

* * *

**Thomas:**

  1. **German (spoken and presumably written)**: Native tongue. Fluent.
  2. **Alexandrian (Library) Greek: **Fluent. (+Ancient Greek)
  3. **English (spoken)**: Fluent? Based on their trips to Philadelphia, where English is spoken, and England. Further evidence: he speaks to Jess in English on the train to Alexandria and he switches to English to threaten Beck in Ash and Quill. 

* * *

**Morgan:**

  1. **English (spoken and presumably written)**: Native tongue. Fluent.
  2. **Alexandrian (Library) Greek (spoken and presumably written)**. Fluency unknown. Morgan makes at least one comment in the series that a passing character's Greek is better than hers, so she clearly feels it's a weak spot. (+Ancient Greek)
  3. **Spanish** **(spoken)**: Very basic fluency? This is entirely based on the few words she uses to start/finish the muffling script in Smoke and Iron.

(Point, it annoys me that, having made a thing about common Greek, Rachel Caine doesn’t make more of Morgan and Jess speaking English to each other)

* * *

**Glain:**

  1. **Welsh (spoken and presumably written):** Native tongue. Fluent.
  2. **Alexandrian Greek**. Fluent. (+Ancient Greek) 
  3. **English:** Based on their trips to Philadelphia, where English is spoken, and England.

* * *

**Khalila:**

  1. **Arabic (spoken and presumably written):** Native tongue. Fluent.
  2. **Alexandrian (Library) Greek (spoken and written)**. Fluent. (+Ancient Greek)
  3. **Portuguese** **(written)**: In Smoke and Iron, she writes to the dead sailors’ families, including in Portuguese. Assuming she’s pretty fluent to feel confident in writing such an important letter. Now, it is _highly likely_ that someone who can read and write Portuguese can also read and write Spanish and in my fics this might become a thing because Dario needs to tease her about her accent when speaking it, but it’s not _mentioned _anywhere.
  4. **German** **(spoken)**: Basic? In Sword and Pen, she understands Thomas asking a question in German. It's a basic question and she's slow to understand it, but on the other hand she's just suffered Morgan draining her.
  5. **English (spoken):** Fluent. Based on their trips to Philadelphia, where English is spoken, and England.
  6. **Japanese** **(written)**: References a Japanese poet in Smoke and Iron, and can read Murasaki's death poem in kanji in Sword and Pen.
  7. **"dead and obscure languages"** **(written)**: Khalila says in Ash and Quill that she, Dario and Wolfe can translate the Black Archives books which are in languages the Philadelphians probably don't speak.

* * *

**Jess: **

  1. **English (spoken and written)**: Native tongue. Fluent.
  2. **Alexandrian (Library) Greek (spoken and written)**. Fluent. Describes his ability in Sword and Pen as "more than passable" compared to Wolfe, who is a native speaker. (+Ancient Greek)
  3. **Brightwell family spy code (written): **Yes, it's not a language, but hey. 
  4. **Sign language**: taught a bit by Dario. Basic? Able to hold a halting conversation. Appears to mainly be fingerspelling.
  5. **Spanish (spoken):** picked up from Dario. Basic? This is literally just based on one line somewhere in one of the later books where he thinks that Dario is speaking Spanish too quickly for him to pick up on - so there’s the implication that he _can_ pick up on things Dario says in Spanish at other times.

* * *

Saved the most fun ‘til last:

**Dario: **

  1. **Spanish (spoken and written):** Native tongue.
  2. **Spanish dialect sign language:** Learnt to speak with baby sister. Fluent, presumably. We never actually see him use it. Jess explicitly says that Dario doesn't teach him Spanish sign language but a dialectal version. Bearing in mind that Sword and Pen reveals Dario is from Catalonia, I fully headcanon that this sign language is Catalan Sign Language.
  3. **Alexandrian (Library) Greek (spoken and written)**. Fluent. (+Ancient Greek)
  4. **English (spoken):** Fluent. Based on their trips to Philadelphia, where English is spoken, and England.
  5. **Library Greek sign language**: Fluent. Now, this is a reach by me, but I don’t think I’m breaking my back to do it. Jess explicitly says that Dario doesn't teach him Spanish sign language but a dialectal version. However, Dario is set as an interpreter for Scholar Prakesh, who is clearly not Spanish and so should use a completely different sign language, and yet they understand each other. Voila, they must both be speaking Library Greek sign language!
  6. **Italian** **(spoken)**: Basic? He translates Santi's _In bocca al lupo_ and calls Khalila _madonna._
  7. **Spanish spy code (written)**: Yes, not technically a language but hey.
  8. **Brightwell family spy code (written)**: Dario breaks this code off-page and uses it in a message. I think it's in Paper and Fire? I'll check another time. 
  9. **"dead and obscure languages"** (written): Khalila says in Ash and Quill that she, Dario and Wolfe can translate the Black Archives books which are in languages the Philadelphians probably don't speak.

* * *

* * *

Side characters:

**Annis**

  1. **Alexandrian (Library) Greek (spoken)**. Fluent, though in the Wattpad short story, Keria notes that her Scottish accent is still very audible.
  2. **English/Scottish (spoken and presumably written):** Native language. She's speaking to Morgan in SOMETHING, we don't know what. Could be English, could be Greek. I've put English and Scots together - the language nationalists will stab me ... 
  3. **Spanish (spoken)**: Fluency unknown. She recognises it and claims to be excellent at it.
  4. **Assyrian** **(written)**: Eskander disagrees with Morgan's description of Annis as "fluent". Bless. I think this is supposed to be Assyrian Neo-Aramaic. Or the extinct Assyrian dialect of Akkadian, which might make sense as it's a much older language. 

* * *

**Alvaro Santiago**

  1. **Spanish (spoken and written)**: Native tongue. 
  2. **Spanish/Catalan sign language**: Fluency unknown, presumably fluent. We only see him use it with Jess.
  3. **Alexandrian (Library) Greek:** Fluent.
  4. **Arabic (written)**
  5. **English**
  6. **"half a dozen other tongues."**

The latter three here are all drawn from one line of Sword and Pen, where Khalila realises she's written the name of Tripoli in "the Arabic alphabet." She reassures herself that it's all right, as an ambassador Alvaro knows Arabic "as well as Greek, English and half a dozen other tongues."

* * *

**Non-Greek(?) books the characters read in the series:**

I'll flesh this out properly thanks to this [amazing list](https://rosalind-of-arden.tumblr.com/post/183779006319/a-list-of-books) later, but for now let's just talk about two.

  * **Khalila: maybe Latin and German (written)**

In the Black Archives, Khalila pulls out two books and reads their titles:

  * Canon: "Generation of Magnetic Field by Use of Electric Currents by Hans Christian Orsted, 1820."
  * In real life: "_Experimenta circa effectum conflictus electrici in acum magneticam, _Örsted, Johannis Christianis (1820)"

First note: these aren't the same titles (the real life one translates as "Experiments on the effect of electrical conflict on a magnetized needle," but assuming that these are supposed to be the same concept, the real life one is written in Latin.

The second book Khalila picks up causes similar problems:

  * Canon: "The Law of Reciprocity of the Magneto-Electric and Electromagnetic Phenomena and Applications for the Reversibility of Electric Generators. Heinrich Friedrich Emil Lenz. 1833."
  * Real life gives us: Ueber die Bestimmung der Richtung der durch elektodynamische Vertheilung erregten galvanischen Ströme, published in 1834, which roughly translates, forgive Google Translate, as "Determining the direction of the galvanic currents excited by electrodynamic distribution."

The titles are quite different this time, but the use of "Law" in the Library version does confirm Caine's referring to the same thing: [Lenz's Law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenz%27s_law). 

The real life version is written in German, which was one of the languages commonly used for scientific writings at the time, hence why Russian Lenz is writing in it. 

**Glain: maybe Latin (written)**

In Sword and Pen, Glain quotes from a [Latin poem on war](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharsalia). (The quote is unattributed but it's quite easy to Google.) The quote isn't recorded in Latin, so it's up to you whether you interpret that as Glain knowing Latin or only having read a Greek translation. 


	2. Curses, Exclamations and Obscenities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I absolutely welcome all comments and opinions on these, if you speak any of these languages and feel you have something to addd or correct!

##  **Jess - Hiberno-English?**

  * Shite (to Brendan)

I’ve included this one because it’s an Irish word, one of the many ways in which in Ink and Bone Jess is incredibly heavily coded as Irish. 

It’s an incredibly mild word, used as slightly less than ‘shit’ which in itself seems to be used more casually in Ireland and Northern Ireland than it it is England, according to the friends I’ve spoken to. Can be an adjective, can be a noun. You wouldn’t say it to a child, you might say it to your grandmother.

(There’s also an incident of something like ‘an extremely vehement English curse’ which pretty much HAS to be ‘Fuck.’

##  **Dario - Spanish**

(It will surprise no-one to know that Dario has magnitudes more than everyone else)

  * _Quién diablos es usted?_ (Dario’s first words to Jess, aw)

OK, so this isn’t really that rude. Putting it in anyway. ‘Who the devil/hell are you?’ 

Dario actually swears by the devil/hell quite a bit - once again in Spanish and at least once that I noted in the common language. So, some in-character Dario markers for you all.

  * _Vete al diablo! _(to Jess, re the lost Codex)

This is generally translated to ‘Go to hell!’ 

  * _Me cago en todos los santos (_re Scholar Prakesh’s death)

This is a fun one. Technically, literally, it means ‘I shit on all the saints’, and it’s more usually used as part of an even longer phrase meaning ‘I shit on God, the Virgin, and all the saints.’ Obviously, it’s blasphemous as all fuck. It’s part of a pattern of Spanish swearing with ‘me cago’ (combined with everything from ‘the milk’ to ‘your dead relatives’, and functionally this version can be viewed as really quite intense curse. I don’t come from an area with creative swearing, I’d have to go for ‘Holy fucking shit’ or get creative with the c word to equal this, I think. 

  * _Joder_ (after seeing the Ray of Apollo tested)

Now. Technically, this translates as ‘fuck’. It can be used in pretty much every way we’d use fuck in English. But, from, what I can tell, it’s not considered anywhere near as bad a word as ‘fuck’ is in English.

  * _Dios santos_ (can’t remember when this was, didn’t write it down)

Literally ‘Holy God’, more colloquially translated as ‘Dear God,’ also as ‘My God’, but he does also use Dios mio, so let’s separate them out. 

  * _Cristo_ (when Khalila goes to him on the ship)

Christ. Khalila is uncertain whether this is a prayer or a curse, so am I. Casual blasphemy. Seems mild from what I can gather. 

##  **Glain - Welsh**

(The second most prolific curser)

  * _ynfytyn_

Moron/idiot/simpleton 

  * _cachu_

Means crap. Pretty mild. 

  * _Y mochyn diawl _(to Dario when he betrays them)

Oooh, this was a bitch to find. This exact combination of words, anyway - they can both be insults on their own, you see. _Mochyn_ is pig and _diawl _is devil. 

As a combination, according to the, like, one source I found, _diawl _is being used an intensifier to _mochyn_ \- we might say,”You absolute pig!”

Can’t find anything definitive on how ‘bad’ a curse it might be. 

  * _y twpsyn_

Another one for fool/idiot/stupid. 

##  **Thomas - German**

  * _Mein Gott _(he says this a lot, at least 4 or 5 times)
  * _Scheisse_

These are self-explanatory, right? Thank you, common background of Germanic languages. Scheisse seems, from what I’ve seen, to be a little more flexible (towards the polite end of the spectrum) than ‘shit’ is in English.

##  **Santi - Italian**

  * _Dio mio_

My God. 

  * _Stronzo _(what he calls Jess when he chokes him)

Technically, this means ‘shit’, but it’s usually translated as ‘asshole’. Refers to someone who has been really awful.

I looked at a lot of stuff for this, indicating it was of varying severity depending on intention, as usual. I did find, on a language forum, an Italian's opinion of the word that seemed to jive utterly perfectly with Santi's point of view at the time. I'll link it in the notes so that you can look if you want to, but to summarise: someone who is deceitful, manipulative and untrustworthy, an insult that is only thrown when the punches start. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The interesting information on stronzo can be found in this thread: https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/stronzo.104077/   
Look for the user sweet_cate.


End file.
